The Alzheimer’s care team from Compassionate Care Home Health Services provides the following tips for Alzheimer’s caregivers to help reduce fear and aggravation for individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, while keeping both them and their caregivers safe:
- Be sure to make self-care a top priority. Now more so than ever, it is imperative that you assess your own personal amount of stress, and take action to make certain you are healthy – both emotionally and physically. You can only give the best care assistance for a senior loved one if your own needs are met. This may mean restricting time spent monitoring the news as well as on social media, maintaining connections with friends and relatives, and taking time for pleasant, enjoyable hobbies.
- Focus on personal hygiene. Proper handwashing techniques are vital for all of us, but may be tricky for anyone with Alzheimer’s to keep up. Depending on the individual’s stage of the disease, it might help to wash your hands with one another, showing the steps to your loved one; or, place signs near the sink in the bathroom and kitchen with a reminder to scrub for 20 seconds. And note that repetition, a common behavior in dementia, may work in your favor in this case.
- Select your words carefully. When communicating with a parent about changes associated with COVID-19, it’s crucial to keep it simple, using a calm and reassuring tone. Beth Kallmyer, Vice President of Care and Support at the Alzheimer’s Association, suggests statements such as, “We have to stay inside because that’s most safe for us, but we’ll do it together. I’ll be with you and we’ll be okay.”
- Make certain you have a backup plan. If you were diagnosed with COVID-19 yourself, or another medical problem that could keep you from safely providing caregiving help for the senior with dementia, it’s vital to have a strategy established for who could take over to fulfill your caregiving responsibilities. An experienced home care agency, such as Compassionate Care Home Health Services, is the perfect choice, with caregivers who are experienced in specialized dementia care.
Let Compassionate Care Home Health Services, providers of dementia care in Saginaw and the surrounding areas, help you. Our professional Alzheimer’s caregivers are fully trained and experienced in both following proper protocol linked to decreasing the risk for contracting coronavirus, as well as in the specialized types of care that are most effective for people with dementia. Contact us at 877-308-1212 for an assessment.